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I'm K-JD. I'm guessing pretty average interview skills. Is it wise to split my bids among Chicago, a target secondary (strong ties) and NY? I've heard that NY firms are getting wise to the fact that some students are just using them as a backup. Would bidding on some NY firms with big classes be a waste given that I've never even visited the place? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

edit: i cant type on my phone

I'm by no means an expert so dont take this as gospel, but what would be the alternative? Just your home market and Chicago? Might be nice to have NY as a backup in case Chicago doesn't work out. I'm guessing you're quite competitive at a secondary midwest market with ties but if you primarily want biglaw in a major market bidding all on Chicago could be a bit risky. I think it depends on what you really want. I wouldn't worry too much about NY firms rejecting you for lack of ties.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm by no means an expert so dont take this as gospel, but what would be the alternative? Just your home market and Chicago? Might be nice to have NY as a backup in case Chicago doesn't work out. I'm guessing you're quite competitive at a secondary midwest market with ties but if you primarily want biglaw in a major market bidding all on Chicago could be a bit risky. I think it depends on what you really want. I wouldn't worry too much about NY firms rejecting you for lack of ties.

Yeah home market + Chicago would pretty much be it if I decided not to bid NY. Looking at the list of OCI firms, it seems like there are a lot of Chicago firms (probably more than the 15-20 interviews that most people seem to end up getting overall) that I would have a good chance at based on past GPA offer data. The problem is that the SA class sizes are significantly smaller in Chicago. I'm really torn and reluctant to unquestionably take OCP's advice not to bid too many markets, though.

Edit: I would be very happy to take secondary market biglaw. It would actually be a toss up between that and Chicago biglaw for me.

I would forget Chicago and just bid NY and your home market. You'll probably get something in your home market, so you won't have to go to NY, but NY is a solid backup.

ndirish2010 wrote:I would forget Chicago and just bid NY and your home market. You'll probably get something in your home market, so you won't have to go to NY, but NY is a solid backup.

160k advice.

OP here. Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go ahead and bid heavily on New York and hope for the best. For the firms that do press my on why NY, would mentioning my strong interest in transactional work suffice as an answer (I actually am interested in that)?

For what it's worth, there were several events last year at which 2Ls said that because so many people bid on NY firms, it was tough to get interviews at some of those firms - even ones with larger classes. I think that for many people, especially someone with a Midwest-focused resume, focusing on Chicago might be the way to go.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go ahead and bid heavily on New York and hope for the best. For the firms that do press my on why NY, would mentioning my strong interest in transactional work suffice as an answer (I actually am interested in that)?

That's a good answer, yeah.

I think you can safely go New York plus your home market or Chicago plus your home market. The latter strategy is somewhat riskier, but probably worth it if you think you'd be happier in Chicago. I wouldn't worry about serious pushback from New York firms about ties. An interest in transactional practice is sufficient.

OP here. Just wanted to update for anyone who might be in a similar situation next year. I ended up bidding about 50% Chi 25% NY 25% secondary. I ended up getting a handful of CBs from each region and ultimately accepted an offer from my top choice in my target secondary before hearing back from the other firms. My screener-->CB rate in chicago definitely wasn't as high as NY but it also wasn't as bad as I was expecting either.